Why do I unexpectedly observe intermittent DDM Errors?
Description Beginning January 10, 2026, executing commands in the terminal or GUI of Quartus® Prime Pro Edition software, Quartus Embedded Edition software or select standalone tools may cause the software or tool to crash with an error similar to the crash signature shown below. This error affects: Quartus Prime Pro Software versions v23.3 through v25.3.1 Standalone Quartus Prime Pro Programmer v23.3 through v25.3.1 Standalone Quartus Prime Pro Embedded Edition v25.3 and v25.3.1 Standalone Quartus Prime Pro Power Thermal Analyzer v25.3 through v25.3.1 This issue is not observed in Quartus Prime Pro Edition versions 23.2 or prior or Quartus Prime Standard Edition. Crash Signature: Error (22912): Unhandled exception: Fatal Error: Assertion failed tools/cpp/ddm/ddm_assessor.cpp:53: DDM_T::verify_token(token) : Cannot identify the client from function assertion_error in tools/cpp/ddm_report/ddm_report_msg.cpp@465 *** Fatal Error: Program termination requested *** *** Below is the stack trace at the time the error occurred. *** The lines beginning "Err Handler" represent frames relating *** to generating this report. *** The point at which the error occurred is somewhere after these lines. *** There may be a few frames representing standard/library code *** before the Quartus frames begin. *** The search for the error should begin with the Quartus frames. *** Unwinder: libunwind *** Stack depth: 15 Quartus 0x24e67: err_terminator() + 0x1bc (ccl_err) Quartus 0xb036a: __cxxabiv1::__terminate(void (*)()) + 0xa (stdc++) Quartus 0xb03d5: (stdc++) Quartus 0xb0628: (stdc++) Quartus 0x1680d: void ddm_throw<DDM_RUNTIME_ERROR>(std::__cxx11::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > const&) + 0x26d (ddm_report) Quartus 0x13fae: DDM_REPORT::DDM_ASSERTION_HANDLER::assertion_error(std::__cxx11::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> >) const + 0xde (ddm_report) Quartus 0x12a52: DDM_REPORT::ASSERTION_HANDLER::error(std::__cxx11::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> >) + 0x72 (ddm_report) Quartus 0x13e64: DDM_REPORT::detail::assert_at_line(char const*, char const*, int, char const*, ...) + 0x1b4 (ddm_report) Quartus 0x205fb0: ddm_set_lassessor(DDM_T_ASSESSOR*, std::__cxx11::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > const&) + 0x60 (ddm) Quartus 0xf4445: DMS_MANAGER::DMS_MANAGER() + 0x5c5 (dni_dms) Quartus 0xf45b2: DMS_MANAGER::get() + 0x7a (dni_dms) Quartus 0xf6db4: _GLOBAL__sub_I_dms_manager.cpp + 0x58 (dni_dms) Quartus 0x647e: (ld-linux-x86-64) Quartus 0x6568: (ld-linux-x86-64) Quartus 0x202ca: (ld-linux-x86-64) Resolution To work around this problem: For Windows machines Download and unzip the Quartus Prime Pro version zip file that matches your Quartus Prime Pro version from this KDB. Double click on the executable ending in “windows.exe”. When the GUI pops up, press Next. Note that the GUI may look slightly different depending on the version of Quartus you are using. Accept the license agreement Specify the directory where the patch needs to be applied which may be a different location than Quartus install if you have standalone tools in a different directory from your Quartus Prime Pro software installation. Keep “Allow Patch to be uninstalled” selected. Select the software in which to install the patch: The patch will install in the directory of the software or tool you have selected. You will see an uninstall directory for the patch in your software or tool folder where patch is installed; it will contain an executable to uninstall the patch if required for any reason. To confirm patch is installed, you can run quartus_sh -v or corresponding version command for your tool via command line. Alternatively, you can Open Quartus in the GUI and select Help → About Quartus Prime in the main menu. If you are opening up a standalone tool you will navigate to Help-> About <tool_name>. For the Command Line Implementation of the patch in Windows, use the following command: <patch_filename.exe> --mode unattended --installdir <your_install_directory> --accept_eula 1 --patch_to [quartus|qprogrammer|qemb|pta] # An example to patch Quartus Prime Pro Edition Software v25.3: quartus-25.3-0.27-windows.exe --mode unattended --installdir /tmp/altera_pro/25.3 --accept_eula 1 # An example to patch the Standalone Programmer for Quartus Prime Pro Software v25.3: quartus-25.3-0.27-windows.exe --mode unattended --installdir /tmp/altera_pro/25.3 --accept_eula 1 --patch_to qprogrammer For Linux machines: Download and unzip the Quartus Prime Pro version zip file that matches your Quartus Prime Pro version from this KDB. Ensure you run chmod +x on the file ending with linux.run. Run in the command line: ./<installation_patch_run_file>. When GUI pops up, press Next. Note that the GUI may look slightly different depending on the version of Quartus you are using. Accept the license agreement Specify the directory where the patch needs to be applied which may be a different location than Quartus install if you have standalone tools in a different directory from your Quartus Prime Pro software installation. Keep “Allow Patch to be uninstalled” selected. Select the software in which to install the patch: The patch will install in the directory of the software or tool you have selected. You will see an uninstall directory for the patch in your software or tool folder where patch installed; it will contain an executable to uninstall the patch if required for any reason. To confirm patch is installed, you can run ./quartus_sh -v or corresponding version command for your tool via command line. Alternatively, you can Open Quartus in the GUI and select Help → About Quartus Prime in the main menu. If you are opening up a standalone tool you will navigate to Help-> About <tool_name>. For the Command Line Implementation of the patch in Linux, use the following command: ./<patch_filename.run> --mode unattended --installdir <your_install_directory> --accept_eula 1 --patch_to [quartus|qprogrammer|qemb|pta] # An example to patch Quartus Prime Pro Edition v25.3: ./quartus-25.3-0.27-linux.run --mode unattended --installdir /tmp/altera_pro/25.3 --accept_eula 1 # An example to patch the Standalone Programmer for Quartus Prime Pro Software v25.3: ./quartus-25.3-0.27-linux.run --mode unattended --installdir /tmp/altera_pro/25.3 --accept_eula 1 --patch_to qprogrammer This issue is scheduled to be fixed in a future release of the Quartus Prime Pro Edition Software. The below table lists the patches that are available and the associated patch number. The patch zip files are attached to the KDB below: Quartus Prime Pro Edition Version Patch Number 23.3 0.52 23.4 0.70 23.4.1 1.01 24.1 0.52 24.2 0.64 24.3 0.35 24.3.1 1.29 25.1 0.36 25.1.1 1.31 25.3 0.27 25.3.1 1.02
Why are there minimum pulse width timing violations in the High Bandwidth Memory (HBM2E) Interface Agilex™ 7 M-Series FPGA IP Design Example?
Description High Bandwidth Memory (HBM2E) Interface Agilex™ 7 M-Series FPGA IP design examples, generated with Quartus® Prime Pro Edition 25.3 or prior, with the configuration settings described in tables 1 and 2, may present minimum pulse width timing violations. Parameter Value Choose the initiator to target the NoC mapping 16-to-16 crossbar connection Use Fabric NoC to return read responses via M20Ks Any Core clock frequency '> 500 MHz' for configurations with 'Use Fabric NoC to return read responses via M20Ks' set to 'Fabric NoC will not be used by the example design' '350 MHz' for all other 'Use Fabric NoC to return read responses via M20Ks' values NoC bridge hardware frequency '> 620 MHz' for configurations with 'Use Fabric NoC to return read responses via M20Ks' set to any value different from 'Fabric NoC will not be used by the example design' Table 1. High Bandwidth Memory (HBM2E) Interface Agilex™ 7 M-Series FPGA IP Design Example parametrization Reference Clock Signal Pin Assignment core_pll_refclk_clk Top HBM2E - PIN_AT41 (PLL: UIB_FBR_LEFT) - PIN_AP33 (PLL: UIB_FBR_RIGHT) Bottom HBM2E - PIN_EF29 (PLL: UIB_FBR_LEFT) - PIN_EH37 (PLL: UIB_FBR_RIGHT) Table 2. High Bandwidth Memory (HBM2E) Interface Agilex™ 7 M-Series FPGA IP Design Example pin assignment. The minimum pulse width timing violations are due to a combination of an oversized core_pll|core_pll|tennm_ph2_iopll-O_OUT_CLK2 (OUT_CLK) clock tree, the clock uncertainty from UIB PLLs, and the target frequency to drive core logic. An example minimum pulse width timing report showing the violations can be downloaded here. Resolution Resolution: To workaround the issue, select a different PLL to drive the example design core logic. Table 3 shows reference pins that connect to IOPLL not affected by this issue Reference Clock Pin IO Bank HBM2E Location PIN_N64 Bank 3A Top PIN_N52 Bank 3B Top PIN_G30 Bank 3C Top PIN_G18 Bank 3D Top PIN_FJ58 Bank 2A Bottom PIN_FH43 Bank 2B Bottom PIN_FR24 Bank 2C Bottom PIN_FJ6 Bank 2D Bottom As an alternative, you can adjust the core_pll|core_pll|tennm_ph2_iopll-O_OUT_CLK2 clock tree region to utilize only the clock sectors required to cover all the placed core logic in the chip. Refer to 6.6. Creating Clock Region Assignments in the Chip Planner section from the Quartus® Prime Pro Edition User Guide: Design Optimization for guidance on how to adjust the clock region. After adjusting the clock tree, your project QSF file will have a CLOCK_REGION assignment as follows: set_instance_assignment -name CLOCK_REGION "SX0 SY3 SX7 SY9" -to core_pll|core_pll|tennm_ph2_iopll~O_OUT_CLK2 -entity ed_synth This problem is scheduled to be fixed in a future release of the Quartus® Prime Pro Edition software.Why does the text overlap in the ALTPLL IP Parameter Editor?
Description Due to a problem in the Quartus® Prime Standard Edition Software version 25.1, you might see that the text overlaps in the ALTPLL IP Parameter Editor on the Windows* Operating System. This prevents the ALTPLL IP from being instantiated. This problem does not occur in the Quartus® Prime Standard Edition Software version 24.1 and earlier. Resolution To work around this problem in the Quartus® Prime Standard Edition Software version 25.1, download and install the patch below: This problem is scheduled to be resolved in a future release of the Quartus® Prime Standard Edition Software.How can I create a compressed and encrypted raw binary file (.rbf) for configuration using the quartus_cpf command?
Description You can create a compressed and encrypted raw binary file (.rbf) for configuration by using the following command with an option file which contains the string Bitstream_compression=on. quartus_cpf -c --option=<option file> --key <keyfile>:<keyid1>:<keyid2> <input_sof_file> <output_rbf_file> You can learn more about the option file from the Quartus® II software command line help. Run quartus_cpf --help=option to learn more about the available options.What is the maximum downward pressure that can be applied to the top of Intel® FPGA BGA packages?
Description The following guidelines refer to the downward pressure or compressive load that can be applied to the top of Intel® FPGA BGA packages: For packages with eutectic SnPb (tin-lead) balls, use the following constant compressive loads: - 3g per solder ball for 0.5mm pitch MBGA package - 6g per solder ball for 0.8mm pitch UBGA package - 7g per solder ball for 0.92mm hex pitch FBGA package - 8g per solder ball for 1.00mm hex pitch FBGA package - 8g per solder ball for 1.00mm pitch FBGA package - 12g per solder ball for 1.27mm pitch BGA package For packages with SAC (tin-silver-copper) solder balls, use the following constant compressive loads: - 7g per solder ball for 0.5mm pitch MBGA package - 12g per solder ball for 0.8mm pitch UBGA package - 14g per solder ball for 0.92mm hex pitch FBGA package - 15g per solder ball for 1.00mm hex pitch FBGA package - 16g per solder ball for 1.00mm pitch FBGA package - 24g per solder ball for 1.27mm pitch BGA package For heat-sink application, Intel's recommendation is to not exceed 20g load per solder ball Your PCB and the supporting frame should be designed to withstand the pressure of the downward force to prevent bending or flexing of your PCB.Error: TBBmalloc: skip allocation functions replacement in ucrtbase.dll: unknown prologue for function _msize
Description Due to a problem in the Quartus® Prime Standard Edition Software version 24.1 or earlier, you may see this error message when generating Altera® IP on the Windows* 11 OS (Operating System). Resolution To work around this problem, follow these steps: Go to This PC, right-click, and select Properties. Click Advanced System Setting. In the Advanced tab, select Environment Variable. Under System variables, create a new variable with the name TBB_MALLOC_DISABLE_REPLACEMENT and value as 1. Click OK and restart the Quartus® Prime Software.
